May 8, 2006

ABILENE, Texas - Hardin-Simmons' softball team is heading west for the regional tournament in the 2006 NCAA Division III Softball Championship.

The Cowgirls are seeded seventh in the West Region and will make a trip out to Redlands, Calif. to play second-seeded Linfield on Thursday at 4 p.m. CST.

This is the first trip to the national tournament for the Cowgirls. A program that is only in their third year of play has come a long ways from their 10-29-1 inaugural season. HSU won its first American Southwest Conference championship this year. The Cowgirls have faced stiff competition this season, including games against No. 1 seed Chapman (27-8) and No. 4 Trinity (29-12).

HSU faced those two teams in the Trinity Tournament back on Feb. 24. The Cowgirls went down 2-1 against Chapman. Arin Spence contained the high-octane offense of Chapmen to two runs by striking out 13 batters. Trinity then went on to defeat HSU by a score of 10-4. The Cowgirls got a lead early on the Tigers with a 4-1 score through three innings but five errors from HSU proved costly.

The first round consists of seven teams with Chapman getting a first round bye. The tournament is double elimination. If the Cowgirls win against Linfield on Thursday they will then play the winner of No. 3 Redlands or No. 6 Whitworth on Friday at noon local time. A Cowgirl loss would mean they would play the loser of the No.5 La Verne and No. 4 Trinity game.

American Southwest Conference runner-up Louisiana College received an at-large bid with a No. 3 seed. They are playing their first round at Indianola, Iowa.

There are a total of eight first-round sites with a total of 59 teams in the NCAA Division III Softball Championship. The finals, which will be hosted by Peace College, will he held May 19-23 in Raleigh, North Carolina.

--- HSU Athletics ---